ANTI-CATHOLICS STAFF DNC PANEL

Catalyst October Issue 2012

If the KKK hosted a panel discussion on race relations at the Republican National Convention, the Republicans would rightly be condemned. But no price was paid by the Democrats for allowing the most anti-Catholic organization in the nation, Catholics for Choice (CFC), to host a panel at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) entitled “Keeping the Faith in the Democratic Party: Protecting Religious Liberty for Everyone.”

CFC is not simply a pro-abortion group: it has been condemned twice by the bishops’ conference, and its stated goal, according to its previous head, Frances Kissling, is to “overthrow” the Catholic Church. The current president, Jon O’Brien, is equally vicious and an opponent of the religious liberty campaign organized by the U.S. bishops. Thus the perversity of having him lead a panel discussion on religious liberty.

In 1995, Marjorie Reiley Maguire, a longtime associate with CFC leadership, branded it “an anti-woman organization” staffed by people who never go to Mass. Funded by the likes of the Ford Foundation, it would collapse if it had to rely on contributions for support.

Speaking at the event were activists from a CFC-organized umbrella group, the Coalition for Liberty & Justice. Several of the groups that comprise this entity have hijacked the Catholic label in service of their anti-Catholic agenda. They include: CORPUS, DignityUSA, New Ways Ministry and the Women’s Ordination Conference. An array of radical left-wing groups with a history of Catholic bashing were also in attendance.

In other words, the DNC’s idea of religious liberty meant welcoming anti-Catholic bigots to deliver their message of hate.